The toothbrush is an oral hygiene instrument used to remove plaque, clean teeth, and stimulate the gums. The standard manual toothbrush consists of a bristled head attached to a handle, wherein the bristled head is only capable of cleaning a small area at a time. The recommended way to manually brush teeth is to use the Bass method, whereby the toothbrush is held such that the bristles are angled at a 45° angle to the long axis of the tooth and moved back and forth in short, quick strokes. This motion requires a certain level of manual dexterity often absent in the very young, the elderly, and people with physical or mental limitations. Additionally, it is the user's responsibility to ensure that each tooth surface is adequately cleaned. Since this is difficult to determine, it is recommended that a person should brush for at least two minutes to effectively clean all the surfaces of his or her teeth. Unfortunately, many people do not have a convenient or accurate way to time their brushing routine, so do not realize how long they have actually been brushing, thus resulting in shorter brushing sessions that fail to adequately remove plaque from all surfaces. Additionally, the time spent brushing each tooth is often distributed unevenly, so that some teeth get more attention than others.
An electric toothbrush uses electric power to either move individual bristles ultrasonically or to rapidly move a brush head. Electric toothbrushes augment the normal brushing capabilities of a person, and some electric toothbrushes even include a timer feature and/or automatically turn off after a predetermined amount of time to indicate to the user when the appropriate amount of brushing time has lapsed. Although this helps encourage longer brushing times, many users still do not brush for long enough in spite of these aids. Though these capabilities encourage proper brushing, standard electric toothbrushes still require a user to move the toothbrush from tooth to tooth and to manipulate the toothbrush onto the various surfaces of each tooth. As with a manual toothbrush, a person with limited manual dexterity may find using an electric toothbrush difficult or impossible because of the manipulation required to properly reach every tooth surface. This also does not solve the problem of favoring certain teeth or regions of teeth over other teeth or other regions of teeth.
The Hydrabrush® (a.k.a. “30 Second Smile”) is a multihead brush that engages upper and lower teeth simultaneously. This toothbrush, however, only engages a small number of teeth at any given moment, thus still necessitating a high level of manual dexterity to properly manipulate the handle. Additionally, since the Hydrabrush® only engages a small number of teeth simultaneously, the time duration necessary to adequately clean all of a user's teeth is still relatively high, as is the likelihood that a user will favor certain tooth regions.
Regardless of whether a person uses a manual or an electric toothbrush, a person who is rushed, too tired, or physically or mentally impaired may not spend the recommended time brushing his or her teeth. Additionally, he or she may also not be willing or able to adequately manipulate the toothbrush in a manner to effectuate adequate brushing. These deficiencies could result in substandard oral hygiene, potentially risking dental caries and gum disease.